Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 27

 The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:27 “Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and [then] at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.”

Put (βαλεῖν)

Lit., throw or fling down, as one would throw a bag of coin upon the exchangers table.

to the exchangers... The bankers who would give interest. Were persons who were in the habit of borrowing money or receiving it on deposit at a low rate of interest, to be loaned to others at higher interest. They commonly sat by tables in the temple, with money ready to exchange or loan (see Mat. 21:12).

exchangers (τραπεζίταις)

Taking their name from the table or counter at which they sat (τράπεζα). The Jewish bankers bore precisely the same name.

This money was left with the servant, not to exchange, nor to increase it by any such idle means, but by honest industry and merchandise. But since he was too indolent for that, he ought at least to have loaned it to the exchangers, that his master might have received some benefit from it.

own with usury... With interest, increase, or gain even if no other profit. The word usury, in our language, has a bad signification, meaning unlawful or exorbitant interest. This was contrary to the law (Exo. 22:25; Lev. 25:36). The original means gain, increase, or lawful interest.

Usury (τόκῳ)

A very graphic word, meaning first childbirth, and then offspring. Hence of interest, which is the produce or offspring of capital. Originally it was only what was paid for the use of money; hence usury; but it became synonymous with extortionate interest. Rev., better, with interest. The Jewish law distinguished between interest and increase. In Rome very high interest seems to have been charged in early times. Practically usury was unlimited. It soon became the custom to charge monthly interest at one per cent a month. During the early empire legal interest stood at eight per cent., but in usurious transactions it was lent at twelve, twenty-four, and even forty-eight. The Jewish bankers of Palestine and elsewhere were engaged in the same undertakings. The law of Moses denounced usury in the transactions of Hebrews with Hebrews but permitted it in dealing with strangers (Deut. 23:19, 23:20; Psm. 15:5).

The Master is ready to make all allowance for the weakness of His servants, so long as it does not amount to absolute unfaithfulness; so long as by any stretch of charity it is possible to call the servant good and faithful. In this case it was not possible. Not faithful, but slothful, was the word: therefore, good it cannot be, but-the only other alternative-wicked thou wicked and slothful servant.

But if he failed to return, the servant wanted to be able to keep the talent for himself. He did not want to deposit the talent in a bank where it would be recorded that the talent belonged to the master (Mat. 25:27). His reasoning indicated he lacked faith in his master; he proved to be a worthless servant.

Book of Hosea Chapter 10 Vs. 2

 ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. Hos. 10:2

Their heart is... Ten Judgments on Ephraim

1. Altars broken down (Hos. 10:2)

2. Images destroyed (Hos. 10:2, 10:5)

3. Kingdom destroyed (Hos. 10:3, 10:7, 10:15)

4. Shame and disgrace (Hos. 10:6)

5. Destruction of high places of sin (Hos. 10:8)

6. Thorns and thistles on altars

7. Misery until they plead to die

8. War and defeat (Hos. 10:10, 10:14-15)

9. Reaping iniquity (Hos. 10:13)

10. Destruction of fortresses (Hos. 10:14-15)

Either between God and their idols or between God and the world.

divided; now shall... Divided hearts (1Kgs. 18:21; 2Kgs. 17:32-33, 17:41).

they be found... As this was their sin, so it is here threatened, that the effects thereof should prove and be an open manifestation of their guilt, so the effects hereof should manifestly prove them faulty.

Either God, or the king of Assyria stirred up by God to invade and destroy Ephraim.

he shall break... Utterly pull down those altars which they had multiplied to their idols. The Assyrians shall, as other conquering heathen idolaters, rage against the gods of the people they conquer, as well as against the people. Such was the pride and atheism of these men.

He shall spoil... Waste or destroy them; how goodly they had seemed to be, yet they should be broken to pieces; and where made of rich materials, as silver and gold, or if adorned with it, the enemy should the sooner spoil them. And then it will appear how stupefied were these people to trust in them, or ascribe any praise to them, when Baal cannot defend his own images or people.

The following Scripture has a great deal to say about the person whose heart is divided.

1Kgs. 18:21 "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word."

God will not allow this. He wanted their total allegiance. He would not accept them worshipping Him and false gods at the same time.

Mat. 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

We see from this; God requires 100% of our loyalty. He will destroy these false gods Himself.

False is the heart of them: now must they atone for it. He shall break the neck of their altars; He shall ruin their pillars.

Israel’s unfaithfulness established her guilt (cf. Hos. 12:14, 13:12, 13:16) and necessitated her punishment. Is deceitful (ḥālaq) literally means is slippery, smooth. Often the term is used of deceitful, unreliable speech (cf. Psm. 5:9; 12:2; 55:21). With their heart (or mind) as subject ḥālaq refers to the hypocrisy which characterized her approach to the Lord. Appropriately the Lord would destroy the sites of her hypocritical and false worship (cf. sacred stones in Hos. 3:4; 10:1).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 26

Verses 26-30: The fact that the latter Man is called wicked and slothful and an unprofitable servant (verse 30), who is cast into “outer darkness,” indicates that he is not a true disciple of the Master.

 The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:26 “His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:”

Slothful

With no more trouble than he expended in digging, he might have gone to the ex-changers. The verse should be read interrogatively, Didst thou indeed know this of me? Thou shouldst then have acted with time promptness and care which one observes in dealing with a hard master. To omit the interrogation is to make the Lord admit that he was a hard master.

Thou knewest that... If you thought I was that kind of man, then you ought to have been faithful to your trust. In repeating the servant’s charge against him, the master was not acknowledging that it was true. He was allowing the man’s own words to condemn him.

If the servant really believed the master to be the kind of man he portrayed, that was all the more reason for him not to be slothful. His accusation against the master, even if it had been true, did not justify his own laziness.

It is not modesty after all that is at the root of the idleness of those who hide their talent in the earth; it is unbelief. They do not believe in God as revealed in the Son of His love; they think of Him as a hard Master; they shrink from having anything to do with religion, rather wonder at those who have the assurance to think of their serving God or doing anything for the advancement of His kingdom. They know not the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore it is that they hold aloof from Him, refusing to confess Him, declining to employ in His service the talents entrusted to their care.

At this point there is an instructive contrast between the parable of the virgins and the one before us. There the foolish virgins failed because they took their duties too easily; here the servant fails because he thinks his duties too hard. Bearing this in mind, we recognize the appropriateness of the Lord’s answer. He might have found fault with his excuse, showing him how easily he might have known that his ideas of his Master were entirely wrong, and how if he had only addressed himself to the work to which he was called, his difficulties would have disappeared and he would have found the service easily within his powers; but the Master waives all this, accepts the hard verdict on Himself, admits the difficulties in the way, and then points out that even at the worst, even though he was afraid, even though he had not courage enough, like the other servants, to go straightway to the work to which he was first called, he might have found some other and less trying form of service, something that would have avoided the risks he had not courage to face, and yet at the same time have secured some return for his Lord (Mat. 25:26-27).

His reasoning indicated he lacked faith in his master; he proved to be a worthless servant.

Book of Hosea Chapter 10 Vs. 1

 

ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS

Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Hos 10:1

Israel is an... The 12th prophecy in Hosea (Hos. 10:1-15, fulfilled). Next, Hos. 11:1.

Twenty Predictions—Fulfilled:

1. He will break down their altars (Hos. 10:2).

2. He will spoil their images.

3. They will say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord (Hos. 10:3).

4. Judgment will spring up as hemlock in the furrows of the field (Hos. 10:4).

5. The inhabitants of Samaria will fear because of the calves of Beth-aven (Hos. 10:5).

6. It will be removed from them.

7. It will be carried into Assyria for a present to King Jareb (Hos. 10:6).

8. Ephraim will receive shame.

9. Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.

10. The king of Samaria will be cut off as the foam upon the water (Hos. 10:7).

11.The high places of sin in Israel will be destroyed (Hos. 10:8).

12. Thorns and thistles will come up on their altars.

13. They will say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

14. I will make Ephraim to ride (Hos. 10:11).

15. Judah will plow.

16.Jacob will break clods.

17. A tumult will arise among the people.

18. All the fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle (Hos. 10:14).

19. So will Bethel do unto you, because of your great wickedness (Hos. 10:15).

20. In the morning the king will be utterly cut off. This was literally fulfilled when the ten tribes were taken into Assyrian captivity (2Kgs. 17:1-41).

empty vine, he... Ephraim was compared to an empty vine because of bringing forth fruit only for himself, and his fruit being sinful.

bringeth forth fruit... Ten Reasons for the Destruction of Ephraim

1. Bringing forth fruit to himself (Hos. 10:1)

2. Making many altars

3. Making many images

4. A divided heart (Hos. 10:2)

5. No fear of God (Hos. 10:3)

6.Swearing falsely (Hos. 10:4)

7. Sodomy (Hos. 10:9)

8. Idolatry his worship (Hos. 10:10)

9. Wickedness (Hos. 10:13, 10:15)

10. Trusting in his own way and in the multitude of mighty men (Hos. 10:13)

“Agricultural prosperity had resulted in spiritual corruption" (Eze. 16:10-19).

Israel is the vine spoken of here. Israel is like a vine that empties out all of its good fruit. We saw in the previous lesson, where God had cursed the womb, and they produced no children. We see the very thing here, when God removes His blessing from a people, their crops and fruit do not produce. These goodly images were probably, to Baal. They have left the worship of the One True God for false gods.

For another section, the tenth chapter, the prophet returns to the twin targets of his scorn: the idols and the puppet-kings. But few notes are needed. Observe the reiterated connection between the fertility of the land and the idolatry of the people.

A wanton vine is Israel; he lavishes his fruit; the more his fruit, the more he made his altars; the goodlier his land, the more goodly he made his macceboth, or sacred pillars.

Israel’s double sin punished

As in Hos. 9:10 this prophecy employs a botanical metaphor in referring to Israel’s earlier history. The Lord planted Israel like a vine in the land of Canaan and blessed her with fruit (i.e., prosperity; cf. Psm. 80:8-11; Jer. 2:21; Eze. 19:10-11). However, as the nation prospered she erroneously attributed her success to false gods rather than the Lord (cf. Hos. 2:8; Deut. 8:8-20). At the same time the people attempted to maintain a semblance of devotion to the God of Israel. The altars mentioned here probably refer to this hypocritical formalism (cf. Hos. 6:6; 8:11-13), while sacred stones allude to idolatry (cf. Hos. 3:4; 10:2).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 25

 The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:25 “And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou hast [that is] thine.”

I was afraid... I feared lest, by some accident, thy talent would be lost if I put it out to trade, and that I should be severely punished by a hard master. I therefore kept it laid up safely and hid it where it could not be lost. Another characteristic of a slothful man. He is always afraid to venture out in business and take risks.

that is thine... There is what properly belongs to thee. There is the original talent that thou gave me, and that is all that can be reasonably required. Observe here:

1. This expresses exactly the feelings of all sinners. God, in their view, is hard, cruel, and unjust.

2. All the excuses of sinners are excuses for indolence and sin, and the effect is to cheat themselves out of heaven. The effect of this excuse was that the reward was lost, and such will always be the result of the excuses of sinners for not doing their duty.

3. Sinner's grudge everything to God. They are never willing to be liberal toward him but are stinted and close; and if they give, they do it with hard feelings, and say that that is all that he can claim.

That is thine (τὸ σόν)

The Greek is more concise, and is better given by Rev., Lo, thou hast thine own.

The servant had such a modest estimate of his own abilities that he was even afraid he might do mischief in trying to use the talent he had, so he laid it away and let it alone. The excuse he makes (Mat. 25:24-25) is very true to nature. It is not modesty after all that is at the root of the idleness of those who hide their talent in the earth; it is unbelief. They do not believe in God as revealed in the Son of His love; they think of Him as a hard Master; they shrink from having anything to do with religion, rather wonder at those who have the assurance to think of their serving God, or doing anything for the advancement of His kingdom. They know not the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore it is that they hold aloof from Him, refusing to confess Him, declining to employ in His service the talents entrusted to their care.

Again, the third servant, having received the one talent, reasoned that his master might not be coming back at all. If he did return someday, the servant could simply return the talent to his master without loss from any poor investment (Mat. 25:25).

Book of Hosea Chapter 9 Vs. 17

 The Lord Will Punish Israel

My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations. Hos. 9:17

cast them away... This is something that God said He would do because of the sins of Ephraim, even though they were one time in grace (Exo. 33:17; Jer. 31:2; Gal. 3:8; Heb. 4:2; Jude 1:4-5). See Hos. 9:8; 9:17; 2Kgs. 23:27; 24:20; 1Ch. 28:9; 2Ch. 7:20; Jer. 7:15; 15:1; 23:39; 31:37; Mat. 5:13. There is no excusing of sin or passing over it by God; even angels who were one time sinless and, in His grace, and who later sinned, will be damned (Mat. 25:41; 2Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6-7). All God can and will do is to forgive when sin is duly confessed and repented of (1Jhn. 1:9).

they shall be... Of whom was the prophet speaking here? Ephraim, the 10-tribe kingdom, as proved in other passages of this book where the name is used no less than 37 times. They were to be wanderers among the nations; so the theory that they would be given a new promised land in England or America and that Judah, or the southern kingdom of David would be the only ones dispersed among the nations is false. God promised global dispersion for disobedience (Lev. 26:33; Deut. 28:64-65). 

They are scattered throughout many nations, because of God's great anger toward them.

The experience of ancient Persia and Egypt; the languor of the Greek cities; the deep weariness and sated lust which in Imperial Rome made human life a hell; the decay which overtook Italy after the renascence of Paganism without the Pagan virtues; the strife and anarchy that have rent every court where, as in the case of Henri Quatre, the king set the example of libertinage; the incompetence, the poltroonery, the treachery, that have corrupted every camp where, as in French Metz in 1870, soldiers and officers gave way so openly to vice; the checks suffered by modern civilization in face of barbarism because its pioneers mingled in vice with the savage races they were subduing; the number of great statesmen falling by their passions, and in their fall frustrating the hopes of nations; the great families worn out by indulgence; the homes broken up by infidelities; the tainting of the blood of a new generation by the poisonous practices of the old, -have not all these things been in every age, and do they not still happen near enough to ourselves to give us a great fear of the sin which causes them all? Alas! how stow men are to listen and to lay to heart! Is it possible that we can gild by the names of frivolity and piquancy habits the wages of which are death? Is it possible that we can enjoy comedies which make such things their jest? We have among us many who find their business in the theater, or in some of the periodical literature of our time, in writing and speaking and exhibiting as closely as they dare to limits of public decency. When will they learn that it is not upon the easy edge of mere conventions that they are capering, but upon the brink of those eternal laws whose further side is death and hell-that it is not the tolerance of their fellow men they are testing, but the patience of God Himself? As for those loud few who claim license in the name of art and literature, let us not shrink from them as if they were strong or their high words true. They are not strong, they are only reckless; their claims are lies. All history, the poets and the prophets, whether Christian or Pagan, are against them. They are traitors alike to art, to love, and to every other high interest of mankind.

It may be said that a large part of the art of the day, which takes great license in dealing with these subjects, is exercised only by the ambition to expose that ruin and decay which Hosea himself affirms. This is true. Some of the ablest and most popular writers of our time have pictured the facts, which Hosea describes, with so vivid a realism that we cannot but judge them to be inspired to confirm his ancient warnings, and to excite a disgust of vice in a generation which otherwise treats vice so lightly. But if so, their ministry is exceeding narrow, and it is by their side that we best estimate the greatness of the ancient prophet. Their transcript of human life may be true to the facts it selects, but we find in it no trace of facts which are greater and more essential to humanity. They have nothing to tell us of forgiveness and repentance, and yet these are as real as the things they describe. Their pessimism is unrelieved. They see the corruption that is in the world through lust; they forget that there is an escape from it. (2Pet. 1:1-21) It is Hosea’s greatness that, while he felt the vices of his day with all needed thoroughness and realism, he yet never allowed them to be inevitable or ultimate, but preached repentance and pardon, with the possibility of holiness even for his depraved generation. It is the littleness of the art of our day that these great facts are forgotten by her, though once she was their interpreter to men. When she remembers them the greatness of her past will return.

Because of her disobedience Israel would be rejected by God (cf. Hos. 4:6). In exile Israel’s people would become wanderers among the nations. Wanderers translates the same Hebrew word (nāḏaḏ) as strayed in Hos. 7:13. Again the punishment fit the crime. Those who willfully strayed from the path of covenant loyalty were condemned to wander aimlessly among those outside the covenant (foreign nations). As in Hos. 9:15, the language in Hos. 9:17 may also allude to the Genesis account. The same verb (nāḏad) is used with respect to Cain (Gen. 4:12).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 24

 The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:24 “Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:”

Lord, I knew... The master of these servants in this story, not Jesus Christ (Mat. 25:14).

a hard man... Hardhearted man, thus accusing his master to excuse his own slothfulness. His characterization of the master maligns the man as a cruel and ruthless opportunist, reaping and gathering what he had no right to claim as his own. This slothful servant does not represent a genuine believer, for it is obvious that this man had no true knowledge of the master.

Hard (σεκληρὸς)

Stronger than the austere (αὐστηρός) of Luke 19:21 (see there), which is sometimes used in a good sense, as this never is. It is an epithet given to a surface which is at once dry and hard.

hast not strawed... Scattered abroad, as if his master reaped without sowing. The attitude of a slothful man who thinks everything others do prospers where it would fail in his case.

Strawed (διεσκόρπισας)

Rev., didst scatter. Not referring to the sowing of seed, for that would be saying the same thing twice. The scattering refers to the winnowing of the loosened sheaves spread out upon the threshing-floor. The word, as Trench observes could scarcely be applied to the measured and orderly scattering of the sower's seed. It is rather the dispersing, making to fly in every direction. Hence used of the pursuit of a routed enemy (Luke 1:51); of the prodigal scattering his goods; making the money fly, as we say (Luke 15:13); of the wolf scattering the sheep (Mat. 26:31). Wyc., spread abroad.

As in the parable of the virgins, so here, the force increases as we pass from encouragement to warning. The closing scene is solemn and fearful. That the man with one talent should be selected as an illustration of unfaithfulness is very significant-not certainly in the way of suggesting that unfaithfulness is more likely to be found among those whose abilities are slender and opportunities small; but so as to make it plain that, though all due allowance is made for this, it can in no case be accepted as an excuse for want of faithfulness. It is just as imperative on the man with one talent, as on him with five, to do what he can. Had the illustration been taken from one with higher endowments, it might have been thought that the greatness of the loss had something to do with the severity of the sentence: but, as the parable is constructed, no such thought is admissible: it is perfectly clear that it is no question of gain or loss, but simply of faithfulness or unfaithfulness: Hast thou done what thou couldst?

The third servant, having received the one talent, reasoned that his master might not be coming back at all. If he did return someday, the servant could simply return the talent to his master without loss from any poor investment.

Book of Hosea Chapter 9 Vs. 16

 The Lord Will Punish Israel

Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. Hos. 9:16

Ephraim is smitten, ... Though Ephraim had a beautiful geographical situation, and experienced the abundant blessing of God, yet barrenness of land and womb, as well as near extinction, awaited them.

yet will I... God is so angry with them, that even the children they bear will not live. The wrath of God has come forth upon them. God even smote the root.

Ironically, because of widespread sterility and infant mortality (Hos. 9:11-14), Ephraim, once a symbol of fruitfulness, would be compared to a withered plant incapable of bearing fruit. Because of her disobedience Israel would be rejected by God (cf. Hos. 4:6).

Some of the warnings which Hosea enforces with regard to this sin have been instinctively felt by mankind since the beginnings of civilization and are found expressed among the proverbs of nearly all the languages. But I am unaware of any earlier moralist in any literature who traced the effects of national licentiousness in a diminishing population, or who exposed the persistent delusion of libertine men that they themselves may resort to vice yet keep their womankind chaste. Hosea, so far as we know, was the first to do this. History in many periods has confirmed the justice of his observations, and by one strong voice after another enforced his terrible warnings.

Ironically, because of widespread sterility and infant mortality (Hos. 9:11-14), Ephraim, once a symbol of fruitfulness, would be compared to a withered plant incapable of bearing fruit.

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 23

 The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:23 “His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

The joy of... Both the man with five talents and the man with two received exactly the same reward, indicating that the reward is based on faithfulness, not results.

Notice here, that his lord was just as pleased with his four as he was with the other servants ten. To whom much is given, much is required. His faith was just as great as the other servant; he just had less to work with. The reward was the same, because he had worked hard and was faithful and did what he could do with what he had been entrusted with.

You see, again this servant was not concerned with the fact that the other servant had more than he did. He just did his best with what he had. His Lord was pleased the same as God will be pleased with us; if we do the very best we can with what we have to work with (through faith).

In both cases the verdict on the past was faithful over a few things, though the few things of the one were more than double the few things of the other; and in the same way, though the promise for the future was for the one as well as for the other, I will set thee over many things, it might well be that the many things of the future might vary as the few things of the past had done.

Again, Two of the servants were faithful in caring for the master’s money (Mat. 25:16-17) and were accordingly rewarded for their faithfulness with additional wealth, additional responsibilities, and sharing of the master’s joy (Mat. 25:20-23).

Book of Hosea Chapter 9 Vs. 15

 The Lord Will Punish Israel

All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters. Hos. 9:15

is in Gilgal... Gilgal was the place where Jehovah was rejected and man’s king set up; where Saul received his message of rejection (1Sam. 13:4-15; 15:12-33); and where God hated them for their wickedness (cp. Hos. 4:15; 12:11).

for there I....Gilgal as a center of idol worship (compare 4:15), the place was representative of Israel’s spiritual adultery. Therefore, He had rejected them from intimate fellowship.

for the wickedness... God first began to know of their evil ways at Gilgal. It seems they were evil, even in their spirit. This had been the place Abraham made covenant with God. It had been the place of the renewal of that covenant by the people on the way to the Promised Land. The 12 memorial stones had been set up here also. This place, where God had met with His people, had become a place of much sorrow to Him. They had developed the worship of the calf at this very place. Gilgal became the center for their sin. Suddenly, God's great love for Israel is turned to hate.

them no more... No more until they come to repentance and quit the sins for which they were driven away and rejected by God (Hos. 5:15).

All their mischief is in Gilgal again the Divine voice strikes the connection between the national worship and the national sin yea, there do I hate them: for the evil of their doings from My house I will drive them. I will love them no more: all their nobles are rebels.

The sinful people were now the object of God’s hatred, rather than His love. The language employed here should probably be seen against a domestic background. The Lord had become displeased with His wife, unfaithful Israel. Such displeasure is termed hatred (cf. Deut. 22:13; 24:3, where the same verb, śānē', is used). God was prepared to drive her from the household drive them out of My house, withdrawing His love His devotion and protective care as her Husband; cf. Hos. 1:6; 2:4-5). The rebellious nation, whose opposition to the Lord’s covenant was epitomized by the Gilgal fertility cult (cf. Hos. 4:15; 12:11), would be expelled from His house i.e., the land; cf. Hos. 8:1; 9:8). Drive… out gāraš is used frequently of the conquest of Canaan, whereby the Lord gave Israel possession of His land (cf. Exo. 23:28, 23:31; Deut. 33:27). Now Israel was about to suffer the same fate as the Canaanites, whose practices it had assimilated. Hosea may also be alluding here to the sinful couple’s initial expulsion from God’s presence (cf. Gen. 3:24).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 22

 The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:22 “He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.”

He also that... A lesser degree of ministerial gifts; and who as he received next to the other, and was the next, who in proportion to what he had received, had traded and gained, he is mentioned next.

came and said... Giving his account; he came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents, behold I have gained two other talents besides them, his account, abating the sum and gains is given in, in the same form as the other.

These two faithful servants lost no time in setting to work. This appears in the Revised Version, where the word straightway is restored to its right place, indicating that immediately on receiving the five talents the servant began diligently to use them (Mat. 25:16, R.V). The servant with the two talents acted in like manner (Mat. 25:17). The result was that each doubled his capital, and each received the same gracious welcome and high promotion when their lord returned (Mat. 25:20-23). 

Again, Thus the master entrusted his servants with considerable amounts of money. The amounts were in keeping with the men’s abilities.

Two of the servants were faithful in caring for the master’s money (Mat. 25:16-17) and were accordingly rewarded for their faithfulness with additional wealth, additional responsibilities, and sharing of the master’s joy (Mat. 25:20-23).

Book of Hosea Chapter 9 Vs. 14

 The Lord Will Punish Israel

Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Hos. 9:14

what wilt thou... Question 5. Next, Hos. 10:3.

give them a... This is the prayerful answer to the question here: a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. The prophet here speaks as one greatly agitated, and at a loss what to say upon what he had just heard; but at last, concludes with beseeching God rather to let the women be barren, or miscarry. Or, if they brought forth children and have no milk in their breasts to give them, that they might die soon after their birth. Rather than that they should grow up to be slain by their enemies before their parents’ eyes. Or carried into captivity; or as it is expressed in the foregoing verse, that their parents should be driven to the hard necessity of bringing them forth for the murderer.

give them a... The days are coming when the barren womb will be a blessing; give this, O Lord; it is less misery to have none, than to have all our children murdered by a barbarous enemy (Luke 23:29).

and dry breasts... Not to starve the children born, but it is a further explication of the former; dry breasts are symptoms of a barren womb, whether by abortion or non-conception, by one or other. Prevent these woeful effects of our enemies’ unjust rage, and of thy most righteous displeasure against us, O Lord.

When God removes from the people, the blessing of the womb removes, as well. One of the blessings God had promised, if they followed after Him, was to bless the fruit of their womb. When God removed His blessing, the womb was cursed. The mothers did not carry healthy children to full term but lost the children to miscarriage.

And the prophet interrupts with his chorus: Give them, O Lord-what wilt Thou give them? Give them a miscarrying womb and breasts that are dry!

The RSV (following the LXX) translates Hos. 9:13, Ephraim’s sons, as I have seen, are destined for a prey. This seems to provide better parallelism with Hos. 9:13.

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 21

 The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:21 “His lord said unto him, Well done, [thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

Ruler over many... I will promote thee to greater honors and to more important trusts.

Joy of thy... In the meantime, share the pleasures and enjoyments of his palace; be his companion, and receive the rewards which he has promised thee. The joy of thy lord may mean either the festivals or rejoicings at his return, or the rewards which his lord had prepared for his faithful servants.

Applied to Christians, it means that they who rightly improve their talents will, at the return of Christ, be promoted to great honors in heaven, and be partakers of the joys of their Lord in the world of glory (see Mat. 25:34; also 1Jhn. 2:28).

You see, we all know it has been a long time since our Master came and checked on us, close to 2,000 years. There is going to be a day of reckoning. A day will come when we and our works will be judged of Jesus. Just the fact that we belong to Him will get us into heaven.

Our faithfulness to the task that He has left us to do will determine what we will do when we reign with Him here on earth.

Life is pretty much like a monopoly game. Some people get Baltic and Mediterranean, and others get Boardwalk and Park Place. You can be a winner just as easily with Baltic, as you can with Boardwalk. It is how you play the game that is important.

These men trusted God and worked, and tried, and they were rewarded for their faithfulness and hard work. God is a rewarder of those who seek to please Him.

They had been unequally successful; but inasmuch as this was not due to any difference in diligence, but only to difference in ability, they were equal in welcome and reward. It is, however, worthy of remark that while the language is precisely the same in the one case as in the other, it is not such as to determine that their position would be precisely equal in the life to come. There will be differences of ability and of range of service there as well as here. In both cases the verdict on the past was faithful over a few things, though the few things of the one were more than double the few things of the other; and in the same way, though the promise for the future was for the one as well as for the other, I will set thee over many things, it might well be that the many things of the future might vary as the few things of the past had done.

Again, Two of the servants were faithful in caring for the master’s money (Mat. 25:16-17) and were accordingly rewarded for their faithfulness with additional wealth, additional responsibilities, and sharing of the master’s joy (Mat. 25:20-23).